Worldwide PC microprocessor unit shipments and revenues in the second calendar quarter of 2010 (2Q10) increased 3.6% and 6.2%, respectively, compared to the first quarter of 2010, according to the latest PC processor study from International Data Corporation (IDC).

The average sequential change in unit shipments between a calendar year's first quarter and its second quarter is an increase of 1.6%. For revenues, the average sequential change is a decrease of -2.8%. So, these increases represent better performance than usual for a second calendar quarter.

"Such a sequential increase in PC processor shipments alone would have been enough to conclude that the first half was strong for the market," said Shane Rau director of Semiconductors: Personal Computing research at IDC. "However, a modest rise in revenues, too, points directly to a rise in average selling prices. System makers bought more and higher-priced PC processors in 2Q10 than in 1Q10. Digging a little deeper into the numbers shows that they bought more mobile processors and more server processors, while desktop processors remained flat."

In 2Q10 unit share by form factor, Intel earned 86.1% share in the mobile PC processor segment, a loss of -1.7%. AMD finished the quarter with 13.7%, a gain of 1.6%, and VIA earned 0.2%. In the PC server/workstation processor segment, Intel finished with 93.5% market share, a gain of 3.3% and AMD earned 6.5%, a loss of 3.3%. In the desktop PC processor segment, Intel earned 72.2%, a gain of 0.5%, AMD earned 27.3%, a loss of -0.7%, and VIA earned 0.5%.

Market Outlook
IDC's forecast for worldwide PC processor unit growth in 2010 is 19.8%. However, market demand for processors weakened during the second quarter and is expected to remain weak in August. "Major OEMs cut PC build orders with their contract manufacturers who, in turn, have cut orders for commodity components," said Rau. "While the PC processor vendors re-iterated their solid outlook during their most recent earnings calls, the softness we've seen ultimately makes us concerned for end demand's pull on processors. Likely, the second half of the year will be seasonal given the early build for Intel's Sandy Bridge and AMD's Fusion architecture launches, but lower than the year-over-year growth seen in the first half of the year. 2011 remains a wildcard in terms of sustainable unit growth."